


Love You till the End of the World

by ruff_ethereal



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gods & Goddesses, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Explicit Language, F/F, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmates, Swearing, Whitley has a potty mouth when he doesn't need to be professional
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-19
Updated: 2019-09-19
Packaged: 2020-10-21 12:09:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20693300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ruff_ethereal/pseuds/ruff_ethereal
Summary: An immortal goddess and an Eldritch being stand at the edge of the universe, having one last talk before they end it all.A tribute to Mattricole's "A Goddess's Life" arc, from "An Eternal Love Story," wondering about how this particular life of Weiss and Ruby comes to an end.





	Love You till the End of the World

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [An Eternal Love Story](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11847705) by [Mattricole](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mattricole/pseuds/Mattricole). 

“So… this is it, huh…?” Ruby asked.

“… Yes. Yes it is.” Weiss replied.

They stood at the edge of this universe, a place where no mortal could ever reach, survive in, or even begin to comprehend without going utterly insane. They gazed at what was left of the world—barren rock, dark and cold from the heat-death of the sun, with not a single living being left, except for the two of them. Even Winter had already permanently passed on, insisting that she wanted to let them enjoy their last moments together in peace.

“Do you regret anything, Weiss?” Ruby asked.

“Depends: do you mean for this life, or for all my many others?” Weiss asked, smiling.

Ruby chuckled. “I mean for this one, Weiss.”

Weiss thought for a while, however much time still meant in this dying realm, before she said: “I have quite a lot. There’s the entire fiasco with Velvet, and how I tried to solve the Chainbreaker’s War. There was how I behaved during the First Conclave, when Kings Cardin and Bob were still alive. And of course, there were the many sagas and misadventures of my champions, before you came along, my beloved Devourer of Worlds.”

Ruby cringed. “You know I hate that name,” she said playfully.

“I do, and I apologize.” Weiss hummed. “But you have to admit… it’s never been more appropriate than right now.”

Ruby nodded, before she turned back to the remnants, her smile disappearing. “Weiss… do we really have to do this…?”

“We have to, Ruby.” Weiss replied. “As much as all I ever really needed in my many lives was you and your company…” she gestured out with her arm “… is this really a world you want to live in?”

Ruby sighed. “No...” she muttered, before she sniffed.

“Is something the matter, Ruby?” Weiss asked, taking Ruby’s hand into her own.

“I’m scared, Weiss,” Ruby said, fingers clutching tightly against the back of Weiss’ hand. “I keep wondering and worrying about what’s going to happen in our next life. It wouldn’t bother me so much if I could just remember all of them, like you can, but I _can’t.” _

Tears started falling from her eyes. “I mean, just _why? _Why does it have to be like this?! Why is it that only one of us gets to have all these memories, only one of us knows who exactly to look for, only one of us has to do all this hoping and praying and working to finally be together again?

“I’ve been your champion for”--Ruby paused, before she groaned--”I can’t even remember, that’s how long!”

Ruby took Weiss’ other hand, then held them up between them. “Weiss, I love you. I want to protect you. I want to fight for you. I want to care for you. And the thought that in our next lives, I can’t do, won’t do, or worse, do the opposite of any one of those things...”

She hiccuped, her voice now cracking. “… It hurts, Weiss. It hurts, _so badly, _even worse than this gnawing hunger inside me. And I guess…” Ruby let go of Weiss hands, buried her face in her chest as she hugged her “… I just want some certainty, that in our next life, I’ll still love you like I do now.”

Weiss frowned, before she hugged Ruby back. “You know that we’ll meet again, Ruby. That we’ll alway fall in love. That I will do _everything _in my power to make those happen as soon as possible, and make sure we can enjoy it for as long as possible.”

“I know. But I still wish that for even just one of our lives, we could switch roles, so _you _can be the one enjoying falling in love for the very first time…” Ruby grumbled.

Weiss smiled. “I would really like that, Ruby.”

Ruby pulled away, sniffed and wiped her tears on her sleeve. “Do you want to wrap things up now, Weiss? See what our next life holds for us?”

“Yes.” Weiss said, nodding. “Just devour the champion’s weapon when you’re ready.”

Ruby nodded, then pulled out her beloved scythe-crossbow. “Okay, here goes. Three… two… one: end of the world time.”

Ruby shed her demon form, turning into a giant mass of Eldritch tentacles. She wrapped her limbs around Crescent Rose, cracking, bending, and snapping it into pieces, divine light shooting out from the fractures, before the weapon’s physical form and Weiss’ power were both consumed. She began to grow, larger and larger, sprouting tens of hundreds of new limbs instantly, spreading out everywhere except a small sphere around Weiss. Finally, she started grabbing and devouring everything—land, liquid, the very air itself, until almost the entire universe was just a writhing sea of void black and crimson red.

Weiss smiled as she began to shed her humanoid form, too, becoming a mass of searingly bright, golden light. She burned away the floating patch of rock she was standing on, burned away Ruby’s tentacles, burned away what little of the universe she hadn’t completely absorbed into herself.

And with that, the universe of Goddess Weiss Schnee ceased to be.

* * *

In some other reality, an immeasurable amount of time later, Ruby found herself reborn as a normal human in a world without magic, sitting in a perfectly normal cafe, nervously clutching an inch-thick sheaf of paper held together by two surprisingly durable brass fasteners. A slice of strawberry shortcake and a cup of hot cocoa were in front of her, but both were completely untouched since their server put them down.

Across her, Weiss’ younger brother showed no such hesitations with his crepes or his cocoa, humming pleasantly as he ate—to none of Ruby’s surprise, it was to one of Weiss’ more popular songs. Eventually, he put down his fork, dabbed his mouth with his napkin, and said, “Okay, I will have to give you this much, Ms. Rose: you _do _in fact know an amazing dessert cafe.”

Ruby nodded. “Thanks.” She hesitated for a moment before she said, “So… can we start this meeting now?”

At that, Whitley frowned and sighed audibly.

Ruby tried not to react, but she could already feel the beads of sweat on her forehead. Yang’s advice echoed in her head: “These show-business types are _brutal. _It doesn’t matter how old or how new they are to the industry, they are _all_ sharks in the water, and they won’t hesitate to rip you apart at the slightest hint of blood.

“In short: play it cool, Ruby, and you’ll _probably_ be fine.”

Ruby had already failed to act natural by completely ignoring her food—or rather, being incapable of eating it without fear of throwing it back up from nerves. Was this the last straw for Whitley, or had she already run out of luck and he was just enjoying his crepes…?

“Ms. Rose… you _do _understand that this is not a_ formal _business meeting, yes?” Whitley began. “After all, I’m not _officially _my sister’s PA, much as the press likes to paint me as such. You do know that I am not obliged to be professional with you? Nor to keep any records of this meeting? Nor even mention _any _of this to my sisters, except the cafe, these crepes, and this wonderful hot cocoa?”

“I know.” Ruby said, nodding.

“You _also _know this means I will be crude and brutally honest, yes? That I will swear and cuss, as I am wont to do when I am able to? And that I won’t be affording you any professional courtesies like feedback, or a recommendation to someone else who’d be more interested in your script?”

“I know that, too.” Ruby said, keeping her tone and expression neutral—she was starting to understand why Weiss never spoke fondly of most of Whitley’s incarnations.

“Excellent!” Whitley said, smiling as he clasped his hands in front of him. “So without further ado, Ms. Rose: _what the fuck? _What the_ actual fuck?_ I mean, _holy shit, _I have encountered some crazy, delusional, obsessed fans in my time in this business, but you? You just take the cake in ‘absolute bat-shit _insanity.’”_

Ruby stared, wide-eyed.

“You’re not the first one to claim you are soulmates with my sister, nor will you be the last, but you _are _the first one that has come up with such an awe-inspiring, expansive, _legitimately _jaw-dropping backstory to it.” Whitley pulled something out of his pocket. “Hold on, let me get my notebook.”

He flipped through a few pages, and started reading from it. “Let me recount: you two are immortal souls, constantly reincarnating in all manner of universes, always falling in love again. For too many lives to count, my sister has been the only one who’s had any memories of that fact. And now, because your last one was her as the goddess in charge of her own universe, and you were an Eldritch abomination, somehow the two of you causing its eventual apocalypse switched your roles?”

Whitley closed his notebook and put it back in his pocket. “Is this just an incredibly elaborate and highly involved scheme to get me to read your pitch for a fantasy novel/production that you want my sister to endorse and/or act in? Because if it is, I will give you this: it worked, and if nothing else you are a _damn_ good fiction writer.”

Ruby blinked. “Uh… no, it’s not, fiction, I was totally serious, but… thanks…?”

“Regardless of your reasons, you _really _should consider applying for some sort of scholarship for your talent, to finish high school and then go to a college of your choice.” Whitley said. “I have little doubts you’ll find great short-term success and, if you play your cards right, be set for life once your ‘young prodigy’ years are behind you.”

Ruby nodded. “I’ll… consider that. So, uh… will you please give this to Weiss?” she asked, holding out the script with both hands, quietly hoping her palms did not dampen it.

Whitley smiled, and said, “No.”

Ruby blinked. “Wait, what?”

“No, Ms. Rose, I am not going to give your script to Weiss, and frankly, I’ll be _damned _if I am ever going to personally introduce you two.” Whitley said, his smile disappearing, his expression and tone growing cold and serious.

Ruby gulped. He reminded her _far _too much of Weiss’ “Spiteful Goddess” look.

“Ms. Rose, please understand that my sister is _very _popular and beloved, and attracts quite a lot of attention, both good _and _bad.” Whitley said, radiating a dark aura that made him feel decades older and infinitely more menacing. “I actually had our _very _good private security team run a _thorough _background check on you, including some procedures that you and I are better off not knowing the details of.

“I fully expected that our interaction would end with our collaborating with the police to have you arrested for stalking, seeing as you know _far _too many _very _intimate details about my sister, information that even the most dedicated and resourceful of her ‘super-fans’ wouldn’t be able to know without knowing her personally for years.

“But for better or for worse, our Head of Security decided to believe your little shtick, and we decided to go meet you personally, before we decide if you’re a serious threat to her safety.”

Ruby gulped, suddenly feeling rather cold, and _intensely _aware now of many other pairs of eyes than Whitley’s were looking at her.

Whitley calmly pressed his palms to the table, slowly rose up from his seat, then loomed over Ruby. “I don’t know _who _you are. I don’t know _what _you are. I don’t know _what _you do and what you’re capable of.

“But you stay the **fuck **away from my sister.”

“_Whitley Schnee,_ what are you doing?!” cried a familiar voice.

Whitley and Ruby both turned, the former paled while the latter brightened up as they saw Weiss storming up, hands on her hips and looking _quite _displeased.

“Weiss!” Whitley said, instantly putting on a face of pleasant surprise.

“Don’t you ‘Weiss!’ me, _little brother!” _Weiss hissed. “What are you doing here, and why did you go and keep it a secret from me?!”

“That--” Whitley began.

“--Was totally my fault, I’m sorry!” Ruby said, shooting up to her feet, before she bowed in apology.

Weiss snapped her head to her, still scowling and looking like she was going to murder someone. Then, she blinked, looked at Ruby more closely, and her lips quickly suddenly turned up into a smile, the look in her eyes changed.

Whitley and Ruby both noticed. The former looked horrified, the latter smiled back.

Whitley looked directly at Weiss, wordlessly begging, pleading, _screaming _at her.

Weiss looked directly back at him, wordlessly telling him off, before she turned back to Ruby. “I see… my name is Weiss Schnee, and you would be…?” she asked as she offered her hand.

“Ruby Rose.” Ruby replied, taking it.

“Ruby Rose,” Weiss said as they shook. “That’s a very nice name,” she said, nodding and smiling.

“Thanks.” Ruby said, smiling back.

“Ms. Rose, I hate to interrupt your snack time with my little brother Whitley over here, but there’s some private business I _really _need to speak with him about—_outside, _in the car—so would you please mind me borrowing him for some ten-to-fifteen minutes?”

“No problem at all!” Ruby said, holding her hands up. “I have a sister, I know how much family comes first.”

“Thank you.” Weiss said, beaming at her. Though her expression was physically the same, her aura was much colder as she turned to Whitley and said, “Let’s _go, _little brother.”

“… At once, big sister.” Whitley said, before Weiss discretely dragged him off to the front doors. (And at a table some distance away, a discretely dressed customer got up and made for a side exit, while their companion stayed put.)

Ruby watched the Schnee siblings go, before she turned to her forgotten shortcake and cocoa, picked up her fork, and started eating it.

There was definitely the chance that, like Weiss strongly suspected, only one of them could keep their memories of past lives at any given incarnation. If that was the case—which it most probably was—Ruby was going to personally experience what a tremendous, “90 degree” uphill battle it would be to make Weiss fall for her again, and do whatever it took so they could actually enjoy their time together regardless of the world they had been reborn in.

She had no idea how she was going to do that, especially since her “brilliant plan” had accomplished its goal_ in spite _of completely falling apart. But, she did know that she was not going to let anything or anyone stop her from being with her soulmate again.

“It’s my turn now, Weiss,” Ruby said as she sipped her cocoa. “And I promise, I’m not going to let you down.”

**Author's Note:**

> Unfortunately, this really is just a one-shot to express how much I enjoyed the "A Goddess's Life" arc, I don't plan on writing anything about the roles being reversed in the immortal AU.


End file.
